diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 3a36159..de0ecab 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -81,34 +81,39 @@ md-to-pdf ./**/*.md
 
 _(You might need to enable the `globstar` option in bash for recursive globbing.)_
 
-Alternatively, you can pass the markdown in from `stdin`:
+Alternatively, you can pass the markdown in from `stdin` and pipe its `stdout` into a target file:
 
 ```sh
-cat file.md | md-to-pdf
+cat file.md | md-to-pdf > path/to/output.pdf
 ```
 
-_(It's not currently possible to pipe the output into a file, it will just be written to `output.pdf` in the current working directory. However this will be implemented before the release of v3.)_
+_You can concatenate multiple files using `cat file1.md file2.md`._
 
 The current working directory (`process.cwd()`) serves as the base directory of the file server by default. This can be adjusted with the `--basedir` flag (or equivalent config option).
 
-
 #### Programmatic API
 
-The programmatic API is very simple: it only exposes one function that accepts either the path to or content of a markdown file, and an optional config object (which can be used to specify the output file destination).
+The programmatic API is very simple: it only exposes one function that accepts either a `path` to or `content` of a markdown file, and an optional config object (which can be used to specify the output file destination).
 
 ```js
+const fs = require('fs');
 const mdToPdf = require('md-to-pdf');
 
 (async () => {
-	const pdf = await mdToPdf({ path: 'readme.md' }, { dest: 'readme.pdf' }).catch(console.error);
+  const pdf = await mdToPdf({ path: 'readme.md' }).catch(console.error);
 
-	if (pdf) {
-		console.log(pdf.filename);
-	}
+  if (pdf) {
+    fs.writeFileSync(pdf.filename, pdf.content);
+  }
 })();
 ```
 
-The function throws an error if anything goes wrong, which can be handled by catching the rejected promise.
+The function throws an error if anything goes wrong, which can be handled by catching the rejected promise. If you set the `dest` option in the config, the file will be written to the specified location straight away:
+
+```js
+await mdToPdf({ content: '# Hello, World' }, { dest: 'path/to/output.pdf' });
+```
+
 
 #### Page Break
 
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index dc5eebf..f102c19 100755
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@ import { serveDirectory } from './lib/serve-dir';
 
 /**
  * Convert a markdown file to PDF.
- *
- * @returns the path that the PDF was written to
  */
 export const mdToPdf = async (input: { path: string } | { content: string }, config: Partial<Config> = {}) => {
 	if (!('path' in input ? input.path : input.content)) {
@@ -24,6 +22,10 @@ export const mdToPdf = async (input: { path: string } | { content: string }, con
 		config.basedir = 'path' in input ? getDir(input.path) : process.cwd();
 	}
 
+	if (!config.dest) {
+		config.dest = '';
+	}
+
 	const mergedConfig: Config = {
 		...defaultConfig,
 		...config,
diff --git a/src/lib/write-output.ts b/src/lib/generate-output.ts
similarity index 78%
rename from src/lib/write-output.ts
rename to src/lib/generate-output.ts
index c057702..7ca84a9 100644
--- a/src/lib/write-output.ts
+++ b/src/lib/generate-output.ts
@@ -1,25 +1,15 @@
-import { writeFile as fsWriteFile } from 'fs';
-import { promisify } from 'util';
 import puppeteer from 'puppeteer';
-import { isHttpUrl } from './is-http-url';
 import { Config } from './config';
-
-const writeFile = promisify(fsWriteFile);
+import { isHttpUrl } from './is-http-url';
 
 /**
- * Write the output (either PDF or HTML) to disk.
- *
- * The reason that relative paths are resolved properly is that the base dir is served locally
+ * Generate the output (either PDF or HTML).
  */
-export const writeOutput = async (
+export const generateOutput = async (
 	html: string,
 	relativePath: string,
 	config: Config,
 ): Promise<{} | { filename: string; content: string | Buffer }> => {
-	if (!config.dest) {
-		throw new Error('No output file destination has been specified.');
-	}
-
 	const browser = await puppeteer.launch({ devtools: config.devtools, ...config.launch_options });
 
 	const page = await browser.newPage();
@@ -56,8 +46,6 @@ export const writeOutput = async (
 			await page.emulateMediaType('screen');
 			outputFileContent = await page.pdf(config.pdf_options);
 		}
-
-		await writeFile(config.dest, outputFileContent);
 	}
 
 	await browser.close();
diff --git a/src/lib/md-to-pdf.ts b/src/lib/md-to-pdf.ts
index c3ec1b8..951d751 100644
--- a/src/lib/md-to-pdf.ts
+++ b/src/lib/md-to-pdf.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
+import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 import { dirname, resolve } from 'path';
-const grayMatter = require('gray-matter');
-
 import { Config } from './config';
-import { readFile } from './read-file';
-import { getMarginObject } from './helpers';
-import { getOutputFilePath } from './get-output-file-path';
+import { generateOutput } from './generate-output';
 import { getHtml } from './get-html';
-import { writeOutput } from './write-output';
+import { getOutputFilePath } from './get-output-file-path';
+import { getMarginObject } from './helpers';
+import { readFile } from './read-file';
+const grayMatter = require('gray-matter');
 
 /**
  * Convert markdown to pdf.
@@ -54,11 +54,8 @@ export const convertMdToPdf = async (input: { path: string } | { content: string
 	}
 
 	// set output destination
-	if (!config.dest) {
-		config.dest =
-			'path' in input
-				? getOutputFilePath(input.path, config.as_html ? 'html' : 'pdf')
-				: resolve(process.cwd(), `output.${config.as_html ? 'html' : 'pdf'}`);
+	if (config.dest === undefined) {
+		config.dest = 'path' in input ? getOutputFilePath(input.path, config.as_html ? 'html' : 'pdf') : 'stdout';
 	}
 
 	const highlightStylesheet = resolve(
@@ -74,11 +71,23 @@ export const convertMdToPdf = async (input: { path: string } | { content: string
 
 	const relativePath = 'path' in input ? resolve(input.path).replace(config.basedir, '') : '/';
 
-	const output = await writeOutput(html, relativePath, config);
+	const output = await generateOutput(html, relativePath, config);
 
 	if (!('filename' in output)) {
+		if (config.devtools) {
+			throw new Error('No file is generated when the --devtools option is enabled.');
+		}
+
 		throw new Error(`Failed to create ${config.as_html ? 'HTML' : 'PDF'}.`);
 	}
 
-	return output as { filename: string };
+	if (output.filename) {
+		if (output.filename === 'stdout') {
+			process.stdout.write(output.content);
+		} else {
+			await fs.writeFile(output.filename, output.content);
+		}
+	}
+
+	return output;
 };
diff --git a/src/test/api.spec.ts b/src/test/api.spec.ts
index 953d905..a7046c8 100644
--- a/src/test/api.spec.ts
+++ b/src/test/api.spec.ts
@@ -1,22 +1,47 @@
-import { resolve, basename } from 'path';
-import test from 'ava';
-
+import test, { before } from 'ava';
+import { readFileSync, unlinkSync } from 'fs';
+import { basename, resolve } from 'path';
 import { mdToPdf } from '..';
 
+before(() => {
+	const filesToDelete = [resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'api-test.pdf'), resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'api-test.html')];
+
+	for (const file of filesToDelete) {
+		try {
+			unlinkSync(file);
+		} catch (error) {
+			if (error.code !== 'ENOENT') {
+				throw error;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+});
+
 test('should compile the basic example to pdf', async t => {
+	const pdf = await mdToPdf({ path: resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'test.md') });
+
+	t.is(pdf.filename, '');
+	t.truthy(pdf.content);
+});
+
+test('should compile the basic example to pdf and write to disk', async t => {
 	const pdf = await mdToPdf(
 		{ path: resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'test.md') },
 		{ dest: resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'api-test.pdf') },
 	);
 
 	t.is(basename(pdf.filename), 'api-test.pdf');
+
+	t.notThrows(() => readFileSync(resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'api-test.pdf'), 'utf-8'));
 });
 
-test('should compile the basic example to html', async t => {
+test('should compile the basic example to html and write to disk', async t => {
 	const pdf = await mdToPdf(
 		{ path: resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'test.md') },
 		{ dest: resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'api-test.html'), as_html: true },
 	);
 
 	t.is(basename(pdf.filename), 'api-test.html');
+
+	t.notThrows(() => readFileSync(resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'api-test.html'), 'utf-8'));
 });
diff --git a/src/test/cli.spec.ts b/src/test/cli.spec.ts
index ec29ec2..d9a8645 100644
--- a/src/test/cli.spec.ts
+++ b/src/test/cli.spec.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { join, resolve } from 'path';
 before(() => {
 	const filesToDelete = [
 		resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'test.pdf'),
+		resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'test-stdio.pdf'),
 		resolve(__dirname, 'nested', 'root.pdf'),
 		resolve(__dirname, 'nested', 'level-one', 'one.pdf'),
 		resolve(__dirname, 'nested', 'level-one', 'level-two', 'two.pdf'),
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ before(() => {
 	}
 });
 
-test('should compile the basic example to pdf using --basedir', async t => {
+test('should compile the basic example to pdf using --basedir', t => {
 	const cmd = [
 		resolve(__dirname, '..', '..', 'node_modules', '.bin', 'ts-node'), // ts-node binary
 		resolve(__dirname, '..', 'cli'), // md-to-pdf cli script (typescript)
@@ -36,6 +37,26 @@ test('should compile the basic example to pdf using --basedir', async t => {
 	t.notThrows(() => readFileSync(resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'test.pdf'), 'utf-8'));
 });
 
+test('should compile the basic example using stdio', t => {
+	const cmd = [
+		'cat',
+		resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'test.md'), // file to convert
+		'|',
+		resolve(__dirname, '..', '..', 'node_modules', '.bin', 'ts-node'), // ts-node binary
+		resolve(__dirname, '..', 'cli'), // md-to-pdf cli script (typescript)
+		'--basedir',
+		resolve(__dirname, 'basic'),
+		'>',
+		resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'test-stdio.pdf'),
+	].join(' ');
+
+	console.log(cmd);
+
+	t.notThrows(() => execSync(cmd));
+
+	t.notThrows(() => readFileSync(resolve(__dirname, 'basic', 'test-stdio.pdf'), 'utf-8'));
+});
+
 test('should compile the nested example to pdfs', t => {
 	const cmd = [
 		resolve(__dirname, '..', '..', 'node_modules', '.bin', 'ts-node'), // ts-node binary